Choosing a Pick-Up

[PurpleFloyd]

That's the plan. Time to buy a dependable truck and not have to buy another truck when i upgrade boats and purchase a wheelhouse sometime down the road. I'd like to be able to put 200k on this truck before replacing.

Then I will put in a plug for a Ram with a Cummins. That will be the longest lasting, best pulling motor you can get. 1500 RPM's pulling a 20' enclosed trailer and you don't even know the trailer is back there.Mileage is in the 20 neighborhood or even better empty and mid teens pulling,

[TR21HP]

It's more a factor of the transmission than it is the gearing. If you look at all the mileage numbers the 331, 355 or 373 shows no difference.

Go to a ford truck forum and the members there will tell you the same thing and the numbers support it. Plus I like the extra guts the taller gears give me empty or towing.

[SwivelDigger]

My opinion on the truck issue comes from driving 3 brands quite a bit. My work bought some Eco-boosts....snappy but the mileage doesn't seem to be as good as the claims unless its stripped down to not pulling or hauling much. It is a nice riding truck though. We also have quite a few Chevys at work. Both gas and diesel. The gas motors didn't seem to have much power. The dura max has tons of power and seems to be a nice highway truck. Personally I have had quite a few dodges. I had a 4.7 liter gas that I got about 14.5 mpg with that surprisingly towed very well and didn't lose much towing. Had a hemi.....not impressed even though I'm a dodge guy. Then I bought a Cummins......I'll never go back to a gas motor. Good mileage, longevity of engine and more power than you need. Oh I forgot that I had a 6.0 power smoke in there to but we all know how they turned out. My vote is for a diesel no matter what brand

[slurpie]

Just ask for a bigger tranny cooler when buying truck. If you are only pulling I would get a diesel don't matter size of load. The new 6.7 will start no prob when -20 out at least the 3 I have. Mileage is the best I have seen in any stock diesel 23 mpg if cruising on highway at 60 over sixty it drops. But I don't buy trucks for mileage I buy to pull. I have worked on all the diesels the mileage varies a lot mostly depends on driver. Always liked the idea of a Cummings but didn't like the shell they were put in not comfortable to me. Have rode in all diesels in various years pulling loads they will all get the job done. The new ones are super quiet even compared to a few years ago. Another benefit in a 3/4 or bigger the axles should be heavier and the leaf springs and the tranny. As stated earlier you need to drive one and see what you like best. Good luck many choices and options when you decide what brand to get. Don't cheap out on 4x4 though get the auto locking hubs and shift on the fly. We got one where the 4x4 is on the floor and manual hubs bad choice on our part.

[Pistol Pete]

Slurpie, not to knock your trucks but when you say milage drops when going over 60, what kind of milage are you talking about. A buddie of mine is looking for a Dodge 2500 with a diesel and does a lot of interstate driving (70 mph) Wondering what he would get for milage?

[BartmanMN]

I'm excited to tow my boat this Summer with my new Ecoboost. So far the only thing that has been on the hitch was a bag a Poo when coming off Mille Lacs. It sure drives nice to work though. haha

[SwivelDigger]

I know you asked slurpie but I'll put my in.... 12 1 ton long box 4 door dually cummins I get 19.5 to 20.5 empty.15 to 17 pulling skid loader type trailer loaded.14 to 16 pulling 33 foot bumper pull camper that is heavy. Had a 08 1 ton short box dually cummins that got better mileage than that but thanks to more pollution stuff it's went down. Most of the time that's at 5 to 8 mph over posted speed limit and I'm in ND (posted 75) quite a bit

[PurpleFloyd]

That is pretty much what I see too.